Darren Sproles Likely to Reach 5th in Career All-Purpose Yards During 2017

Philadelphia Eagles veteran Darren Sproles is only 672 all-purpose yards away from reaching No. 5 on the all-time all-purpose yards leaderboard, per Tanya Ray Fox of USA Today's Touchdown Wire. Should Sproles—who currently has 19,011 all-purpose yards—reach the output in 2017, he would surpass Steve Smith (19,180), Marshall Faulk (19,190) and Tim Brown (19,682) along the way.

A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Sproles has been one of the best passing-down backs in the NFL for the better portion of his 11-year career. He had his most productive year since joining the Eagles in 2014 last season. Partially the result of Ryan Matthews failing to stay healthy, Sproles rushed for 438 yards on 94 attempts and caught 52 passes for 427 yards.

A significant chunk of his all-purpose yardage has also come from kick and punt returns. The 34-year-old has been a consistent presence as a returner since 2005, racking up 8,350 yards and two touchdowns off kicks and 2,782 yards and seven TDs off punts.

Arguably Sproles' best season occurred in 2011 as a member of the New Orleans Saints. He tallied 2,696 all-purpose yards while notably averaging 6.9 yards per carry on 87 rushing attempts.

While expecting another high-usage season out of him might be misguided considering his age and the Eagles' acquisition of LeGarrette Blount, Sproles has yet to record less than 1,108 all-purpose yards in a season. With that in mind, Sproles enters the campaign in a good position to reach the No. 5 mark on the career all-purpose yards leaderboard.